HUNTINGTON CENTER
Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard
Huntington Beach, California

Orange County, California's first fully-enclosed shopping center held its grand opening November 15, 1966. Known officially as HUNTINGTON CENTER, but often called HUNTINGTON BEACH MALL, the shopping complex was built on a 58 acre tract, located 33 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The site was adjacent to an interchange with a newly-opened segment of the San Diego Freeway.

The mall was designed by Los Angeles-based Mazzetti, Leach, Cleveland and Associates and developed -in a joint venture- by the Huntington Beach Company and Santa Barbara-based Gordon L. McDonald. It was originally anchored by a branch of Los Angeles-based The Broadway. This 2-level (150,000 square foot store) had opened in October 1965.

The completed mall included a 2-level (169,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 2-level (206,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. This store faced a main court area with a statue of an archer at its center, which had been imported from Budapest, Hungary.

A Northwest Wing was dedicated in 1986. This included a 2-level (82,000 square foot) branch of the Hayward, California-based Mervyn's chain and several new stores.

Unfortunately, by the early 1990s, the mall was going under. J.C. Penney relocated to another area shopping center in 1992, with Burlington Coat Factory assuming its store space in 1995.

The Broadway folded in 1996. Ward's was shuttered in early 2001. The mall was left virtually vacant, as tenants and customers had moved to newer and more trendy retail complexes, such as SOUTH COAST PLAZA (1967) [May 2008 archive] and WESTMINSTER MALL (1974).

A 170 million dollar wrecking ball renovation got underway at HUNTINGTON CENTER in late 2003. Most of the existing mall was razed, with the four anchor department stores, and an outparcel structure to the east, left standing.

Ground was broken in April 2004 for a new, open-air shopping complex, with upscale retail spaces and restaurants and a five thousand-seat, 20-screen, multiplex cinema. A 6-level -one thousand five hundred-space- parking garage was also built at the north end of the site.

Rechristened BELLA TERRA (Italiano for "Beautiful Earth"), its grand opening was held in September 2006. Anchoring the lifestyle center were Mervyn's and Burlington Coat Factory (holdovers from the original mall), a branch of the Wisconsin-based Kohl's chain (occupying the old The Broadway), Barnes and Noble, Circuit City and REI.

Today, the shopping center is operated by San Jose-based DJM Capital Partners. The shuttering of Mervyn's, in early 2009, left BELLA TERRA with a vacant achor space that has yet to be filled.

Sources:

LottaLiving website / Favorite Building Forum / Contributors: "Egads", "Spud Girl", and "Boxoutbm"
Belle Of The Malls: Huntington Beach Mall Reborn As Tuscan-inspired Lifestyle Center"/ Melissa Adams / OC Metro Magazine / "Retail" / February 16, 2006
http://www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/
City-Data.com / Los Angeles City Forum / Contributors: "Tess", "Dennismpat" and "Gary F." City-djmcapital.com (DJM Capital Partners website)
"The Broadway" article on Wikipedia
"Mervyn's" article on Wikipedia
www.groceteria.com / Message Board / History: Non-Grocery Retail / Contributor: "Jeff"